Dream a Better Dream
by You can call me Randy
Summary: "Ya know, when they say that you have to go through some crazy obstacles to meet the person of your dreams, I didn't expect to be flung into another dimension. Or to find out that the person of my dreams is kind of a terrible person." A story of a wayward angel and a gruff demon, who are somehow friends despite one hating the other's entire species. (OC)
1. Prologue: Dreams and Hangovers

**AN: Well. This is going to require an explanation.**

 **So, the last story I made for Slightly Damned on this site was 'Hell Hath No Snark', and it had an alright basis; then I ran into a problem.**

 **I didn't plan out the story, then ran into a wall of "What the hell am I doing?" It was bad, and I felt sad that I can't really do much about that story anymore without spending a lot of time revising it and gutting it. And** _ **then**_ **a worse problem came up when I tried to do one for Twokinds, where I tried to do a third person POV to mix things up; with mixed (** _ **ha**_ **) results.**

 **Then I came up with the idea of taking what I've learned about both stories, and write something new. And** _ **only**_ **this one. Whether or not I return to the other two stories depend on the success of this one, and if I have the time and effort to spare for them.**

 **On that note, here's the prologue for Dream a Better Dream.**

 **PS: Anything underlined inside dialogue will be considered angelic – for the sake of brevity. And the song from the alarm is by John Denver, called 'Country Roads'.**

 **Disclaimer:** _ **I do not own Slightly Damned. I'm not much of an artist, so I'll stick with writing. Also, I don't own 'Country Roads', that's John's stuff.**_

* * *

Well, this is _quite_ a nice spring night that I have on my hands.

The stars are shining brighter than normal, despite the city lights hiding them most evenings, and there is _such_ a nice warm breeze rolling through the streets. It's been a while since I experienced something like this, despite being in a city. Usually, I have to go outside city limits to feel something like this. Even then, nightly strolls aren't the same when it's not on the sidewalks.

I take in a breath of air, smelling the unusual scent that the breeze carries, breaking away from the mild one of smog that permeates cities like this.

This break in normalcy is, while very odd, is welcoming. I've only lived here for about a year, and yet I already miss living in a more rural area. The air here is stale, and I still haven't gotten used to the smell of fumes and city filth that clings to everything here.

The only things that really keeps me here is the odd sense of wonder that comes from a walk through the concrete jungle at night. The lights that turn on at night shine in so many colors, like a circus that seems to never leave town, keep me coming at night to witness their splendor. The shadows they cast are such a contrast, that it might as well be a form of art. And the kind of people that come to the streets at night to run whatever those lights advertise...

It's like living in a beast that never sleeps; constantly moving and surviving no matter the time.

I feel the breeze start to pick up, but I don't pulling my shawl closer to myself. It's an unusually warm breeze, despite being the start of spring-

 _ **VWOOOM**_

I turn sharply to an alley that I just passed, a white light fading from it. I look around and see that nobody else is around, only myself as a witness to the noise and light show.

"...a-ah..." I hear a weak, disgruntled voice gasp from the alley. I turn my head back to the alley.

' _Well, guess nobody else is around to check it out._ ' I slowly walk up to the entrance, my heels clacking on the concrete.

"Hello? Are you alright there; that was some weird flash-" As I turn the corner to look in, I froze where I stood.

In front of me is a _beautiful_ woman, features sharp and foreign with white hair, laying on the ground in a pool of blood. There are jagged claw marks raked all over her body, still pouring blood out of her onto the alley floor.

' _Oh_ _ **shit**_ _. Call the cops pronto._ ' I try to take my phone out, but it takes longer than normal with my shaky hands almost dropping it. I quickly flip it open and punch in the emergency phone number.

"Shit shit shit shit, oh _shit_." I bring a hand to my hair and bunch up a side of it, eyes looking around the alleyway for any signs of what might've done this. The more I look around, the more I realize that nothing is around, and the alley ends with a brick wall. What could've done _this_?

" _9-1-1, what's your emergency?_ " The ringing stops and a masculine voice answers.

"Th-There's a w-woman bleeding in an alley o-on Silver Grove Street!" My voice is loud from the panic filling me. There's just so much _blood_ everywhere, and-and-

There's a bundle in her arms, wrapped in a white and red-patterned cloth. It began to squirm slightly and let out a slight whimper, as if it was-

" _Okay, mam. We will be there momentarily-_ " The voice on the other line stops when we both hear a loud cry of a baby come from the bundle in the woman's arms.

"Th-There's a baby s-she's a mother _oh my God-_ " I put my hand up to my mouth to stop the sob that was threatening to escape.

The operator told me to stay calm, and that there was help on it's way, but nothing could help the woman now. What with the sheer amount of _blood_ that was on the ground now, and the baby still in her dead arms. The baby cried, and cried; it kept at it even after help arrived and took the corpse of the woman in a body bag. Somehow, I ended up being the one holding the little orphaned bundle.

I just stare at the infant, the baby still crying in my arms. The more I look at their face, the more my head tilts in confusion. Their face has that same sharpness like the other woman, but chubbier. The eyes, squinted from their wailing, are an odd shade of _red_ , of all things. There is a small tuft of white hair on their head, but it's the ears that hold my attention.

Their ears are _long_ , going on for another inch and a half at the top to a point. It's like the child came straight out of a fairy tale, as if they were an elf from an old folktale.

And so there I was; standing in the middle of a murder scene, holding the child of someone who died in an alley while emergency response personnel mill around with their work.

The baby manages to cry harder, the breeze – now lost of it's warmth – picking up again at their wail.

I'm thinking that the city's lights aren't worth the shock it gives me.

* * *

 _ **Five Years Later...**_

"Are you excited, bud?"

"Yeah, but..."

"You nervous?" I nodded, my white hair swinging a little. Mom bent down to give me a hug. "It's alright to be nervous; it's your first day of school, after all." She leaned back and smiled down at me.

I smiled back. "Okay."

Mom and I had walked down the dirt road to the main one at the end, waiting for the bus to come. It's my first day of school, I felt _super_ excited yesterday for this, but now...

I frowned again. "What if nobody likes me?" Mom gets a weird look on her face before she gives me a bigger smile.

"Don't worry, hon. Everyone will like you, and you might even make a few friends!" She gives me another look when I don't feel better. "Django Freedom Cooper, you are by far the cutest kid I have ever seen. So why wouldn't anybody else?" I duck my head at her calling me cute; Mom likes to do that a lot. "Now, the bus will be here soon- wait! There it is!" She gives me another big smile and points to the bend of the road.

I turn to where she's pointing and see a _huge_ yellow bus, like the ones I saw in some of the books that Mom read to me. Even though I still feel scared, a smile starts to appear on my face. Mom gives me a pat on the shoulder and stands back, as the bus pulls up to us and the door opens.

I look back to Mom. "Bye, Mom!" I wave to her, then step onto the bus; the bus' door closes behind me.

The bus driver, a big lady with pretty blonde hair, gives me a weird look before smiling.

"Just find a seat; you one of the first ones, so there are plenty to choose from." The lady gives me a nod and waves her hand behind her.

I look to my left to see a _lot_ of empty seats. There are a few others leaning out of their seats to get a look at me; they just keep staring, so I quickly look down and walk forward. There are a lot of empty seats, but they all look torn up in a couple of places. There's even an empty _candy wrapper_ ; I thought nobody was supposed to eat on the bus?

I found an empty seat near the front, having the least tears in it, and climb up it. As soon as I sit down, the bus starts to move. I look out the window to see Mom waving at me, so I wave back to her. She smiled and put her hand back down, and I try to keep watching her until the bus makes a turn.

I look back forward and take in a deep breath, like how Mom showed me if I feel scared. Mom said that people will like me, and that I'll make some friends.

I start to smile again. I get to meet other _kids_ , instead of being alone with Mom. I get to see what it is like to _play_ with others like me! I start giggling, the kinds of fun that I can do with others running through my mind.

* * *

It's only afternoon, and Mom had to pick me up from school. There's paint dripping onto the seats, and the only thing that kept me from crying again was Mom saying that she "Needed a new seat, anyways." I can still feel the pain in my arms and legs; a few dark blue marks showing through the parts where there isn't paint.

I can see Mom giving me weird looks, just like the one from this morning. She then sighs.

"Sorry, hon."

I nod, but don't say anything. Another silence filled with those looks goes by.

"... you lied," She gives an even bigger look at that, but I ignore it. "You said that they would like me; that I would make some friends..." I start sniffling, again.

She doesn't say anything except give me those looks. It's silent the whole way home; through the woods, and onto the dirt road to home.

* * *

There's fog everywhere.

I look around to see nothing but the fog. There's no one around, and it's kind of dark.

I'm all alone.

"H-Hello?" I call out into the fog. "Mom? Are you there?"

No answer. No noise. Just my breathing.

I start walking forward, the fog moving away from me. I keep walking, trying to find something; home, Mom, anything.

I don't know how long I've been walking for, but I finally see _something_ in the fog. It's small, curled up in a ball on the ground.

"Hello?" The thing on the ground freezes for a second, then looks up. The fog's too thick to see anything but a shape.

"Who's there?" A voice, sounding squeakier than _me_ , calls back to me. They look around at the fog. "And where am I?"

"I don't know." I look at the fog again. It kind of looks like water, but if it moves in the air. What word did Mom use? Ripple! It ripples like wat-

"What do you mean, 'I don't know'?" The voice calls out again, and it would sound mean if it didn't sound so _squeaky_.

I start to giggle. "You sound even squeakier than I do."

The thing with a squeaky voice stands up and starts to stomp in my direction.

"Squeaky?! I'll show _you_ squeaky, you... little..." The thing passed through the fog, stopping when it saw me. I stop laughing.

It's... not human, whatever they are. They kind of look like a dog, but blue and with stripes. They also have _blue hair_.

"Are you a talking dog?" I blurt out, then wince when they give me an angry look.

"No! I don't even know what a dog _is_ ," They give me another look. "And I know what _you_ are."

I feel my eyes stinging again, that bad feeling in my gut showing up again. Before they could say anything else, I started to cry again, sitting down on the foggy ground.

"I-I-I _know_ ," I throw out. "I-I'm j-just some _freak_." I put my hands up to my ears to cover the length of them. "A-A freak who's not supposed to be _anywhere_! Okay?!" I scream out to the thing, hoping that it would just _go away_.

I don't know how long I sat there, crying. I didn't look up to see if the not-dog left, I didn't do anything but wail. After a time, I ran out of tears to cry, and soon the sobbing stopped. I didn't move, my hands still covering my long ears.

"So... you're not an angel?" I snapped my head up to the thing. Why are they still here...

"An angel? Why would I be one?" I tilt my head to the side.

"Well," They moved around a hand – that has claws that look _awesome_ – before shrugging. "You look like one."

I blinked.

"Aren't angels supposed to have wings?" They stopped again and looked up in thought.

"You're right. You _do_ look kinda wimpy, and angels are supposed to be all strong and stuff. But," They flex their arm. "Demons are _way_ stronger!"

Wait, _what_.

"You're a demon?" They nodded their head, their blue hair flopping around. "But you're..."

I... I probably shouldn't tell them that. They'll probably get mad, and start being mean to me.

"I'm _what_." They lean down, growling a bit. It would be scary, but the growl is so-

"...cute." My eyes go wide. "Wait! I meant-"

"Cute?!" They shout at me, pointing a claw. "I'll show you cute, you twerp!" They begin stomping in my direction again, their cute growl starting to sound a _bit_ scary.

I jumped up and started running, hearing them chase after me. I didn't get very far before they tackled me, both of us crashing to the ground. I tried to roll out from under them, but they grabbed my arms and shoved them to my sides, leaving me to squirm underneath them.

"Ha!" They have a huge teeth-filled grin. "Not so cute _now_ , am I-"

I kept trying to break free. "Let me go!" I feel my eyes sting again. " _Please..._ "

They let out a 'huh?' and lightened up, then I shoved them off and scooted away from them; curling up into a ball and start to shake again. I don't let my eyes move away from them; I stare at them, and they stare at me. We stay like that for a while, just watching each other.

Finally, they let out a squeaky sigh. "Okay," They crawl over to me, stopping in front of me. "I... didn't mean to hurt you. Just don't call me _cute_ , and I won't tackle you, yeah?"

I give a nod, still shaking. "Y-Yeah." I pause for a moment, then slowly put a hand out. "I-I'm Django."

They give my hand a weird look, and I can't help but roll my eyes. "You're supposed to shake it," I lean forward to grab one of their clawed hands. "Like this." I shake our hands. It felt weird, with only me moving our hands.

They give our hands a weird look, then gives them a squeeze and looks at me. "My name's Lazuli." They let go of my hand, theirs dropping back to their side.

I tilt my head a bit, squinting at them. I... can't tell if they're a girl or not. The girls at school were never like this; they sat together and gently talked about... whatever girls talk about. But Lazuli's voice sounds too _squeaky_ to be a boy. They sure are rough enough to be one, though...

Lazuli tilts their head to the side. "What?"

"Are you... a boy?"

They freeze up again, then sent me another angry look. " _What?_ " They start to growl again.

I put my hands up, waving them in front of me. "I-I mean, I never seen a demon before! I can't tell!"

They stand there for what felt like _forever_ , before they let out a huff. "I'm a girl." The- _she_ crossed her arms and look off to the side, then start to look around at the fog.

"Hey, do you know where we are?" Lazuli speaks slowly, starting to sound scared.

I look at the fog, too. I... don't remember how I got here. The only thing I remember before this was Mom reading a book to me, then wishing me a good night-

"Um," Lazuli looks at me, her face looking scared. "I remember falling asleep before... _this_." I point at the fog around us.

Lazuli puts a claw to her chin and taps it. "I _think_ I went to sleep, too." She then lets out a huge gasp. "Are we having the same dream?! That's so _cool_!" She puts her hands together and starts to bounce in place, with her ears bouncing around.

As soon as she said that, my eyes start to feel heavy, and Lazuli yawns loudly. She waddled over to me, sitting down and curling into a ball.

"I'm _tired_..." She let out another yawn.

"Yeah..." I cover my mouth as I yawn, too. "I'm tired, _too_..." I lay down next to Lazuli, hugging myself and closing my eyes.

A thought crosses my mind. "I wish I can see you again, Lazuli." I mumbled to her.

I thought she fell asleep, but she spoke up. "Yeah... you're alright, Django. For a... not-angel."

The last thing I felt before I felt asleep was a warm feeling in my belly, then nothing.

* * *

 _ **Eleven Years Later...**_

High school _sucks_.

If there was a way to just torture teenagers slowly, it would be in a guise to educate them. I mean, it's alright in trying to educate us, but I feel like it does it in the slowest, most _boring_ way known to mankind. And the _classmates_... just no.

I look over from Mr. Winchester, the _very_ old history teacher, to the small group of classmates just _talking_. It wouldn't be so bad – the teach can get _very_ monotonous – but they talk _just_ loud enough that everyone but the teacher knows what they're talking about.

And it's about _fishing_ , of all thing! Fishing! How is fishing so important that it can't wait for one more minute-

 _ **RIIIIING**_

As soon as the bell went off, everyone scrambled to shove their notes into their bags and get out of the last class of the day. Only a few people orderly put their things inside their packs. A couple of them finish up and talk to each other as they walk out. Others just try to hide themselves from the teacher as they shuffle out the door.

I go to get up, but a shadow towers over me. I look up from my fairly short – on average – stature of five foot six to see-

"Hey, Jamar." I give a halfhearted wave as I slip my notes into my bag, zipping it up and shouldering it.

Jamar Smith, a _very tall_ guy, is someone I would consider to be a... friend. Loosely. We meet up at lunch with a bunch of other people, and just do hipster-level complaining about school and such. Jamar is, despite his hulking size, a fairly normal person – if a bit chill about everything. It's probably one of the reasons he sticks around me; we have the same last class of the day, and our houses are close-by when we walk home.

"You looked like you were going to bit off their heads." Jamar, in his deep baritone, bluntly informs me. I level a deadpan in return as we walk out of the classroom.

"Excuse me, but who the hell talks about _fishing_ during history class?" I lazily throw my hands into the air, then let them flop back to my sides.

We keep walking, navigating our way outside the main doors of the school.

"...do you ever think that 'fishing' is code-word for, like, making moonshine?" Jamar looks down at me-

"Probably does, knowing those guys, Legolas." Both of us jump slightly at the inclusion of the new voice, turning to Jamar's other side to see-

"Kate! The _hell_!"

Katie Evergreen, also known as Kate, is... odd. Not like Jamar; he's just normal with a height advantage. She's full-blown nerd _and_ she has a fascination with the weird. Which might explain why she sticks around me and Jamar. The Legolas nickname is obvious, and the fact that it doesn't really bother me seems to be the unspoken permission to stick around.

The fact that she is taller than me – at five foot nine – doesn't _really_ bother me.

I ignore my eye twitch.

"You really need to stop doing that," Jamar calmly tells Katie. "You might break Django one of these days."

…the fact that Jamar is _completely_ serious about that doesn't fill me with confidence.

"Your right!" Katie gives a mock look of horror. "Where else can I find someone who has ears like his?" All of us laugh a bit at that.

We're on the side of the main road, heading towards our homes, as we just talk about whatever comes to mind. Most of it consists of Kate talking about the most recent fight at school, or some kind of new show being aired that's worthy of her time. After a while, we hit a turn that she has to break off to head to her house, waving energetically as she makes her way down the road.

Jamar and I keep walking, letting the sudden burst of Katie sink in before talking again. It's Jamar that's the first to talk.

"So, I want to know," I glance up at him, but wave him on. "What, exactly, do you _do_ at your house? For fun, I mean."

I tilt my head in thought, before shrugging. "Nothing much. We're not very rich, per se, so I just do my homework when I get home, then read in the oak out back." Jamar lets out a quick laugh.

"So you're a book geek? Never did see you read at school." I shrug again.

"I like reading in comfy places, and the library chairs are the _worst_."

"Whatever, man. See ya tomorrow." He gives off a wave, then turns off into his subdivision.

"See ya, J." I wave back to him.

I keep walking, watching him go down his road. Soon, the trees block the view of him.

…

I take in a deep breath, then start to jog. It's a longer distance, from either Kate's or Jamar's place, to mine. So I have to start jogging in order to make good time to get home. It doesn't hurt that there's a nice fall breeze blowing through, so it's not like doing this during the late summer where it's extremely hot out.

After a few minutes of jogging, I come up to the dirt road that I've always remembered. I turn off onto it and break into a run, kicking up dust as I make my way up to the house at the end. As I approach the house, I slow down and take a second to take in a few deep breaths. While I'm doing this, I hear someone start to clap.

I look up to see Mom, sitting in one of her rocking chairs, applauding; like I'm some kind of Olympic runner.

I wave at her as I walk up. "Hey, Mom." She stops clapping and stands up, arms open wide. I walk up to her and gladly accept the hug.

"Hey yourself, bud," She leans back a bit to look at me. "You looked like the devil was on your heels, with how fast you were running."

"Nah, nothing like that," I break from the hug and walk inside. "Just my social anxiety showing from being a teenager. You know," I wave my hand around, looking for a proper term, before shrugging. "Teenager things." I hear Mom let out a laugh.

"Yeah, lord knows I was bad when I was your age." She pauses for a second, then shivers. " _Bad times..._ "

"Well... on the bright side; I got my social contact in for the day. Kate found another show to get absorbed into that isn't people at school beating each other up. And Jamar... is being Jamar." Mom goes over into the living room, sitting down onto the couch.

"The Smith boy?" Mom looks up with a raised brow.

"Yeah; big, tall, dark, and completely normal Jamar." I walk into the kitchen, pulling open a cabinet and fishing for a snack. Mom suddenly shut the door and swatted my hand.

"Boy, you know to not eat before dinner; you'll ruin it," She walks over to the crock pot sitting on the counter, taking a glance at it.

"Sorry..." I quietly say as I set my bag on the back of a chair. "I wasn't assigned anything, today. You mind if I..." I wave my hand at the back door. Mom looks back to me and gives a exasperated look.

"What, you don't want to talk to your mother about your day?" She quickly gives out a laugh when she saw my conflicted face. "I'm just kidding, bud. You can have your fun; just don't fall out of it, alright?" I shoot her a grin.

"I'll keep my body safe; don't worry." I bounce off to my room a few doors down.

When I get into my room, it's... definitely a teenager's room. There's a spare chair in the corner that serves as the deposit for clothes that I – totally – forget to put away, there's a general sense of clutter that only I don't seem to mind, and that _beautiful stench_...

I look over to the used-up air freshener, all dried up for about three days now. I'll replace that soon. Maybe.

Looking around one of the many piles of loose papers, I dig through one specific stack and fished out a stack of notebooks. They all have roman numerals on their covers, and the most recent is the fifth one.

I've been... busy, when it comes to my writing. All of it was written in the company of myself, and I can't help but just... not show it to anyone. And as far as I know, not even Mom knows about it. On the way out, I grab the burgundy beanie sitting on my dresser.

I make my way outside, passing Mom staring at the items in the cupboard – most likely thinking what would spice up dinner – and head over to the oak. This tree has always been here since Mom and I moved out here. The rural background that extends beyond the view of the back yard definitely adds to being one of my favorite places to relax. Not the best, but definitely close to it. I slip on the dark red hat as I begin scaling the tree to the one branch I always lay on.

My ears had definitely grown longer since I was a kid. When I was born, it was already at an abnormal length, and then it decided to take a turn for the weird and get even _longer_. If it wasn't for the fact that the ears were off-putting, I would just look like an albino, albeit one with actual red eyes, instead of pinkish-red ones. Hence, the beanie; it both covers the ears to where it looks like my hair just bunches up weirdly, and the only odd feature about me is the eyes.

Almost perfect, but not quite.

It's close enough for me, however.

I settle into my perch, pulling out a pencil and flipping through the pages of the most recent edition to my story. All of the pages of the book are littered with gray smudges from cheap erasers and doodles for whatever come to mind. As I flip through the pages, one page that I see is dedicated to a singular sketch.

It was a few days ago, and the local gaggle of bullies decided to flock onto me. It was kinda bad, and I did have to make the 'I fell' excuse for why I had a bruise on my face. And my arms. And why one of my ears looked a little _too_ red-

Yeah, it wasn't a fun day for anyone.

But one thing was always a constant for me, ever since... eleven? Eleven-ish years and still counting has been my dreams. Specifically, a supposed blue, fluffy demon.

Lazuli. I looked down at the rough sketch that dominated both the page and my thoughts for the rest of that day. I'm definitely no artist, but I like to think that my sketches aren't too bad.

They still classify as doodles, in my book. But good doodles, nonetheless.

I still had the same strange lucid dream with Lazuli after all of this time, any not a word of it continuing has came out of me. I say continuing, because I used to say that there was a talking dog in my dreams to Mom, but after a while, when the dreams persisted, and she started to look worried about this fixation on it to the point of shoving medication in my direction...

Well, only I know about this weirdly nice thing I have, and it's going to stay that way.

I flip past the sketch and move onto the most recent page, putting pencil to paper once more.

The story I've written is a simple one, and there are definitely who knows how many hero stories out there, and what I'm doing definitely hasn't been seen before – as far as I know; I don't read as much as I say I do. But nothing get me like a good story about a buddy adventure with heroism and the good guys winning. The twist I put in here is less of a twist and more of a better focus on the partnership between the two 'heroes', where one is a scraggly archer with seemingly no special abilities, and the other is a skilled swordsman. And nothing gets the adventure going like the archers' quick wit entertaining the swordsman and both of them getting drunk beyond belief, then waking up tied together and surrounded by bandits...

Telling anything more would probably spoil the story.

Well, except that the main _hero_ is the swordsman, but not the main _character_. A sidekick's perspective, if you will.

...Wow, Laz is right; I must be weird if I'm explaining to myself what I'm doing.

"Time to focus; deal with fluffy inner demons later." I mumble to myself, then dove into writing out said story.

* * *

 _ **That night, in the dream...**_

I suddenly felt a feeling ghost over my skin, something akin to a lukewarm breeze slowly drifting over top, blanketing on me. Everything is quiet, the only sound I hear is the sound of my breathing and the faint beating of my heart in my ears.

Opening my eyes shows me the familiar mist of The Dream.

As per usual, I take the time to stand up, then pick a direction to walk in. No matter the direction I pick, I always end up in the same place. I'm the only one of us who can actually do this; whenever Lazuli tries the same thing, she always ends up walking for no reason. We tried her walking to get to me one dream, and she only got that feeling of being completely lost.

We both agreed that she's not allowed to move, just in case both of us moving would just waste time – seeing how he only get this dream once a week. It still frustrates her to no end, though.

After what felt like the required walking to get into earshot of her, I call out.

"Hey!" My voice echoed into the mist.

Suddenly, I hear footsteps running, and while it doesn't sound like it's coming from any specific direction, I still brace for-

A large force slams into my back, and the only thing I see from said force is cobalt at the edges of my vision before I slam into the ground, and a weight plant itself onto my back.

"Gotcha." The voice is completely smug, and I don't need to see the face of the voice's owner to know that there's a wolfish grin on it.

"If it wasn't for the fact that we can't feel pain in here, my face would be broken in seven different ways." I push out from underneath the weight on my back. While pain isn't a thing in here, the effort to breathe is still a thing.

The weight scoffs at that. "Seven? Don't be so melodramatic." Despite knowing about breathing in here like I do, the weight doesn't budge.

I roll my eyes. "Okay then, nine different ways. Better?" The only answer I get to that is a swat to the back of my head, pushing my face back into the non-floor for a second. "But seriously, can you let me up now?"

"Hmm... nah, I'm fine up here."

"..."

"..."

"Can I at least talk face to face?" I offer.

I can feel the weight shift a bit, probably putting on the cliché thinking look.

"Yeah, that works." The weight lifts up slight, just letting enough room for me to twist my body onto my back and face the weight.

Said weight is Lazuli. She had come a long way from the squeaky, dog-like kid that I first met. The voice is no longer in the soprano range, but has some odd husky quality to it; as if she either hadn't drank any water for a day, or if she's trying to growl while talking and ended up mostly talking. Her body ended up taking a stocky shape, and while her height seems to pronounce that, she still ended up an inch taller than me.

Which she lords over me all the time.

Which is alright, because I lord over _her_ the fact that I'm better at navigating.

It's a stalemate, for now.

Her face has the suspected smug grin as she sits on my stomach, as if she hunted down her prey and was just soaking in the pride. And knowing how she gets, there really isn't any better way to explain it.

"What's up." Lazuli's grin seems to grow even _more_ smug when she sees me look at it.

"You, obviously." That earned me a snort and a swat that really didn't have any heat behind it. "But I'm doing alright. How're you?"

"My week was the _worst_ ," She groaned out the last word and threw her head back, in which I respond with another eye roll. "The amount of punks that I had to deal with today was frustrating, _and_ they won the matches, so I couldn't really do much about it."

"Yeesh, sounds like me a few days ago." At her questioning look, I continue. "The same flock of guys who I talked about a few times? They got a bit physical. And when I mean a bit, I mean I had a hard time telling people that I just fell, and wasn't ganged up on."

Lazuli gives me a pointed look at that, crossing her arms. "I still don't see why you don't just beat them up; that's what I would do."

"Yeah, but doing that would land me in trouble; that's what happens when you have a load of money to back you up- hey! Don't give me that look," Said look was a raised brow from her. "Doesn't matter if I broke Jackson's face, I would just be blamed for it and he would get off with a slap on the wrist and a pat on the back. Just like every other time I tried something, as you know."

At that, she goes silent, her face scrunched up a bit in thought. After a bit of this, she slides off onto the floor next to me and lets out a huff, starring into the mist.

"Wish I was there; I would help you out with them."

"You and me both; they'll never find the bodies, with how good of a duo we'd be." At that, she looked over long enough to flash a wild grin before returning to the fog.

After that, we just relax there; soaking up the presence of the other and the quick conversation we had. Usually, we would try to shove as much as we could into the short time we spend in here, but sometimes the quiet solace like this is all we need. After a week of dealing with what's out there, it's a comfort to be here.

Ha, comfortable with a self-proclaimed demon; that's not something you hear every day. Although...

I look over to Lazuli, watching her eyes trace a wisp of fog as it rolls overhead. If it was possible for me to ever see her outside of here, I would take any chance I can get my hands on. All just to see her more than once every week for a few precious minutes. Maybe I could show her the things that I always talk to her about; to show her what nature feels like, what good food tastes like, what a sunset – the entire concept of the _sun_ , for crying out loud – looks like. All of these normal things that she never even knew _existed_.

But that nagging feeling creeps up on me again, the 'what if all of this really _was_ a dream?' The Dream _is_ oddly consistent for it to just be a figment of my imagination, but the sinking feeling that none of this is real, that _Lazuli_ isn't real...

It scares me.

A feeling of lethargy washes over me, and next to me Lazuli lets out a yawn. Seemingly on instinct, she rolls onto her side and grabs onto my arm like it's some oddly shaped toy.

"Ya know, you get grabby when you're tired." Despite my words, I curl up too, pulling myself closer.

"Shaddup, Jane; you're too soft _not_ to." Despite the biting tone, there's a dopey grin glued onto her face.

I'm too drained to correct the feminine nickname she's so intent on giving me.

We shuffle a bit, trying to find a comfortable spot on the strange misty ground, before the feeling of just being plain _tired_ falls over us.

"G'night, Jane." Her blue orbs close.

"G'night, Laz." Mine follow suit.

Then the void of sleep overtakes me, with the comforting pressure of us clinging onto each other being the only thing that sticks.

* * *

 _ **Nine years later...**_

" _Almost heaven, West Virginia. Blue ridge mountains, Shenandoah River. Life is old there..._ "

"Uuuuuhg." My arm sluggishly moved its way from under the covers to the alarm on my nightstand, swiping the image on the phone to turn it off. I limply slide my arm back under the covers, moving a bit to get comfortable again.

And then the headache hits, accompanied by a strong nauseating blow to my stomach.

I throw the covers off of me, suddenly feeling too hot for them, and I practically fly to the open door to the bathroom.

What follows is a solid five minutes of vomiting, retching, and a bile coloring that should have made me feel worried, sparing the exact details.

After said event, and spending an additional minute or so using the porcelain throne for what it's meant for, I wash up at the sink. Splashing some water on my face, I open up the medicine cabinet behind the mirror and fish inside for some aspirin, swallowing the things dry when I palm a few.

" _I hate hangovers_..." I grouch under my breath. When I close the cabinet, the mirror shows just how I feel; I have bags under my eyes, my skin looks clammy, hair looks unkempt, and my ears droop lower than its usual perkiness.

All in all, it could be worse.

I could barely remember what happened last night, but something tells me that I probably have to actually think about it for me to recall it.

...I should make something to eat, if I'm going to think. I trudge out of the bathroom, the headache still throbbing in my skull, and drag my feet across my apartment – which I stop immediately when I find out I slept in my shoes – to the kitchenette. Gracelessly maneuvering to the fridge, I open it up and look inside. The fridge is stocked with ingredients that I _could_ use to make something, but the _effort_...

A perfectly normal looking apple catches my eye, and I greedily grab it and shut the door. Within a minute, the poor fruit is reduced to a core, then promptly tossed into the trash. I look around the rest of the apartment, and I breathe out a sigh of relief when I don't see any visible messes made, other than a winter jacket that I remember wearing to the outing last night laying on the floor outside my bedroom.

Last I recall, Kate called for a celebration that involved Jamar and I when she got a promotion, and _of course_ she brought us to a bar, despite the fact that she doesn't drink.

I get the feeling that she only stays sober to see us fail around while we're wasted off our asses, sometimes.

Other than the specifics – and a few general things, too – missing, it just seemed like a normal night of drinking and joking. Maybe if I look at my phone, something will come up...

Something catches my eye, now that I take a closer look at the coat. There's a cord spilling out from one of the pockets, and I have no idea what the material looks like. I bend down to pick it up-

-Then jump when I hear my phone ring, and hearing the theme song of whatever show that Katie was especially addicted to, something about brothers who were monster hunters. I huff out a breath and step over the coat into my room, heading over to my nightstand and answer the phone, turning on the speaker as I do.

"Mornin', Kate." My voice is still hoarse from earlier, and while the headache went away a bit, I feel thirsty as all get out...

"Hey yourself, Django. Are you feeling alright; some people came into the bar last night and talked to you. You left while I wasn't watching, and I had no idea if you got home alright." Her normally jovial tone is drenched in worry, but I don't focus on that as I look around for wherever my shirt went.

"Well, I got home, and nothing feels broken other than my soul." A very unladylike snort comes from the phone as I continue. "You said that there were some people that talked to me? I don't really remember much, other than the general sense of 'I walked into a bar sober and walked out wasted out of my mind.'"

"I don't really know what those people were, but they both wore a suit, and they handed over a manila folder at some point while talking to you. I didn't see what was inside, but Jamar got rowdy and when I looked back, all three of you were gone," I hear her let out a sigh as I slip on a fresh shirt; I couldn't find my old one. "I thought you got kidnapped, but when I ran outside both of those guys were alone, and they said that they couldn't talk about the conversation they had with you."

Well, I certainly don't remember any people in suits, but I do feel a detached feeling of 'sad', but that's it.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, the worst that's wrong with me right now is nursing this headache and making sure I don't throw up again." I hear a reluctant laugh cough out from Katie, and it comes out again in another sigh.

"I don't know why I worry about you so much; I'm not your mother, damn it." Her happy tone returns, and I can't help but smile a bit myself.

"Alright, _mom_ , just make sure that Jamar is alright; I got a manila folder to find, apparently."

"Okay, take care~!" Her voice gets all sing-song-y, then she hangs up.

So... a manila folder, huh? I don't remember anyone giving me anything but drinks last night, but it wouldn't hurt to look around some more, now that I'm more awake. I walk out into the main area-

 _Slam_

-only to fall flat.

Ow. All of my ow.

I roll onto my side a bit, looking back at the offending object that tripped me...

Well. I don't remember owning any necklaces – or is it an amulet?

When I tripped over the forgotten clothing outside the door, the item within its pocket fell out. I can see the cord more clearly, and it appears to be some sort of wound thread. And attached to said cord is the amulet, stylized to look like a cartoon-like sun. I would think it was a bit of joke jewelry, or something made for kids, but picking up the cord reveals that the amulet has some weight to it, like it's made of metal.

When I touch the sun, it gives off a strange, comforting feeling.

I still can't remember what happened, but I feel like I've seen this before. Perhaps this was what the folder held?

I need to go for a walk; try to clear my mind and remember. Preferably sometime before tonight, I rather not be preoccupied when I met up with Lazuli.

I pick myself up, grabbing the coat as I go. I head back into the bedroom to grab my phone, then to the foyer to grab my keys. I snatch the cap hanging from the hangers lining the wall and slip that over my ears.

Before I could reach for the handle, I notice that my hand is still gripping the sun amulet. That odd feeling of comfort still seems to radiate off of it...

I slowly grab the cord with my other hand, lifting the strange item over my head and loop it around my neck.

...Nothing.

Other than the nice feeling pressed onto my chest now, nothing seemed to change.

I quickly tuck the sun into my coat; no way I'm going to be seen wearing something that looks so... _childish_.

I go through the process of locking the door behind me, heading down the elevator, and heading outside.

Outside is into the not-so-fresh air of the city that was near my home. I recall Mom saying that she moved into the city before I was born, and that it was here that she adopted me and took me out of here; I can agree that a city's not a great place to raise an infant. When I started to get my stories published – something that avid readers of the series call 'The Sidekick Stories' – I felt that it would be a good idea to move into the city. That, and the fact that both of my high school friends both moved here, and it was great to get in touch with them again.

After taking in the not-so-great sights that I see every day, I start to walk down the street. My hand drifts over the lump under my coat as I shiver a bit from the winter chill.

It's odd, how attached I feel to this. I'm fairly certain that inanimate objects aren't supposed to _radiate_ a feeling. To feel like something, sure; a soft blanket is comforting. Metal isn't comfortable to me, and yet here is a weird amulet of a funny looking sun that projects a feeling of 'good'.

I shake my head of my thoughts; it's not a good idea to think and walk, I could end up actually being lost, and not be washed up to do it.

My surrounding slowly shift from the quiet hum of the afternoon, with a handful of people walking about, into a street filled with shut-off neon lights and graffiti covered walls. It's probably not a good idea for me to walk around in what's considered 'the bad area', but it has its own charm to it that I can't help but like.

I still pick up my pace a bit. I may be crazy, but not _that_ insane.

I slow it down to a stop when I hear a gentle humming.

The note – for it's a constant droning sound – seems to be directionless, at first. But when I walk forward to try and see what could be making that noise, it gets louder. And the louder it gets, the more that I realize that it's not _just_ a single note, but a chorus of sounds all being hummed together in unison.

Like a choir.

I finally reach the location of the pleasant sound, and it has lead me to an entrance to an alley. At first, when I look into it, there appears to be nothing. Upon actually walking into it, there appears to be a faint light, just floating there.

"Well hello there," I quietly say, one of my hands lifting up to touch it out of curiosity.

As my hand slowly approaches it, the humming seems to reach a crescendo, then-

 _ **VWOOOM**_

-there was only light, and the sudden panic that rises within me that tells me that _this isn't right_ , just as quickly disappears, and my consciousness follows my fears.

* * *

 **A/N: Holy shit, that was a big one. Pretty sure this is one of my biggest chapters to date, and it's just the** _ **prologue**_ **.**

 **Although I do have something to say about this, and it is mostly good and maybe a bit bad, but I liked writing this. And unlike the other stories, it doesn't feel like a slog to just find a way to continue this, because I plan on staying mostly simple, and not have the main characters of this story be the main characters of Slightly Damned.**

 **Instead, I planned on making a 'what if' kind of thing mixed with a different kind of 'what if'. Those being 'what if Lazuli knew an "angel" and was friends with them', and 'what if that "angel" was raised on Earth, and got the xenophobic treatment'. Therefore, there is less meddling with the main story line, and something on the side gets manipulated.**

 **That, and Lazuli's bluntness seems pretty cool, and wished that she saw things differently, even by a small margin.**

 **Anyways, hope you enjoy this story, and take it easy! Or something...**


	2. Meet and Freak

**A/N: Well, I think I did well enough, all considering.**

 **Although I have to put this out there; there's going to be a lot less of this than there already was. Less time to kill and all of that.**

 **Well, it's more complicated than that, but the reasoning is personal, so _eh_. **

**Anyways, enjoy the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer:** _ **I do not own Slightly Damned. I mean really, be reasonable here.**_

* * *

Something isn't right.

As I come to, the first thing that I notice is that it's _fucking cold_. Beyond that, I get a sense of vertigo for a second, where everything doesn't seem to align properly-

I throw myself onto my side, emptying my stomach of whatever was left inside of it.

It's the _second_ time, today; can't I catch a break-

When I actually _use_ my eyes and take in what I'm looking at, there's an extreme amount of white, everywhere. Letting my eyes adjust to the bright light, I take a look at my surroundings.

And proceed to go slack-jawed. Bile dripping from said slack-jaw and everything.

I'm sitting up in the middle of an _enormous_ clearing, covered in a fine layer of snow. At the edges of the clearing, there are trees lining it as far as I can see. And now that my sense of smell isn't clogged up in vomit, the air is noticeably _clean_ , nothing like the air of the city. And looking above the treeline, there's nothing but blue skies...

 _Something isn't right._

I try to stand, but I have a hard time with how _weak_ I feel; the only thing I ate today was an _apple_ , for crying out loud, and I think I just threw that up. After expending what felt like a herculean effort, I finally get on my own two, shaky legs, and just take a look around.

Phone; I have to call someone, _anyone_.

I shove a shaking hand into my pants pocket, taking a second to pull out my phone...

"Ah _shit_..."

Whatever brought me here ended up completely shattering the screen, cracks spider-webbing out from an unknown source of impact. I just let the phone slide out of my hand, the broken item not even making a sound as it hit the cushioned earth.

I don't have a way to contact someone, and I'm stuck in the middle of literally _nowhere_ , with an empty stomach, the remnants of a hangover, and a body that feels like a sneeze would knock it over.

I need to find help. Fast.

Seeing as how there isn't any point of reference, as this is a clearing, I just pick a direction and begin to walk. Well, the walk is more of a pitiful shuffle, with the snow hindering my feet slightly and the wobbly legs making things hard.

But I manage, as I see the edge of the woods steadily come closer-

And then something _insane_ happens.

Barreling out of the treeline is three figures, and while one of them _looks_ human, my mind seems to stop working at the sight of the other two. One is _short_ , looking to only go up to my waist at most, and has these _huge_ ears the size of dinner plates and a _tail_ that looks longer than they are tall. The second figure is taller than me, counting the horns – actual _horns_ , holy _shit_ – and they're _purple_.

Oddly enough, they're carrying a sizable rock.

I feel justified at my paralyzed gaping, standing there like I just witnessed the world ending.

And to top it off, what seems to make them run in the first place comes out of the forest next, and it looks like a giant bull with an axe and a weird blue dog.

 _Wait._

" _What?_ " I sort of wheeze out, and for _some reason_ , that word seems to halt the entire ensemble as they direct their attention to me. I pay none of them any attention as I stare at the cobalt blue figure.

"Hey! Who the fuck are... you..." The fluffy blue not-dog start to shout, but their words slowly die off as they take a closer look at my face, the dark blue eyes widening the longer they look at me.

"Uh..." Seems to be the only response that escapes my lips, and I start to feel even more dizzy than I did a few seconds ago.

Because really, how could anyone respond to seeing a figment of their imagination chasing a bunch of weirdos and a lookalike?

Despite the hangover, I really felt like having a drink right then, liver be damned.

Of course, the moment ends all too soon for my liking, and the large bull-thing – who was looking between _her_ and me for the few scant seconds of silence – heaves up a _huge_ axe and snorts – legitimately _snorted_ – with an annoyed look.

"Great, another witness to get rid of." He takes a step forward.

"Witness?" I look off to the side where the girl and the two... things were, but they're already booking it as fast as they can away from the hulking figure. Looking back shows him picking up speed with a sinister grin plastered on.

 _That's your cue to fucking_ _ **run.**_

Adrenaline pumping from the fear of a giant axe bisecting me, I turn on a dime and bolt after the other runners, hearing thunderous footsteps – hoovesteps? - giving chase. The short one ahead of me is frantically bounding through the snow, using all of their limbs to propel themselves forward, as the other two just run as best as they could. I myself could barely keep up with them – despite walking everywhere in the city, that _isn't_ running for your life worthy – and my body complains with every step I take to _rest_.

Hearing the thuds gain on me, I promptly tell it to shove it and keep moving because _oh god that thing is going to_ _ **kill me**_ -

A horrible series of cracking sounds emanate from behind me, and glancing to my right shows a literal _wall_ of _ice spikes_ come up from seemingly nowhere, continuing to jut up and into a curve in front of the runners, who all slide to a stop – the purple one slams into it, but doesn't look too hurt by it – and gawk at the obstacle. Grinding to a halt next to them and turning around, the big guy slowed his advance seeing our predicament. Next to him is _her_ with clawed hands coated in a dark cloud of _something_ , but it doesn't look good.

"Oh crap." The short one – female, from the sounds of things – sums up the situation.

My eyes dart to _her_ , only to see her giving the same look at _me_. So, she does remember me, and if the look means anything the gears in her head are trying to think of _something_. What that something is, is anybody's guess.

Right as I thought that, she opens her mouth to speak-

"Wait," The short one speaks up, her voice heightened in fear. "before you brutally murder us and the new guy, satisfy my curiosity..." She points to the lookalike with blue hair. "Is she _really_ an angel?"

And that indignant anger that I know so well swells, and all the gears running in her head stop to glare at the short one.

Yeesh, they must've done something bad if she's so trigger-happy. And what was that about the similar being an _angel_ -

"Listen, _rat_ \- I already wasted my breath trying to tell your retarded friend that 'Snowflake' or whatever is really-" She gets cut off _yet again_ by the big guy, who looks oddly invested in the conversation despite _looming_ over us – seriously, the thing's got to be nine, ten feet at _least_.

"Actually, I think he called her 'Snowy'-" Looking at _her_ , her eyes are slits from how much she's glaring, and she's starting to shake.

 _Oh_ , that's not good-

" _AAAARRGHHH!_ " She lets out a frustrated scream, and the big guy flinches back – hell, _I_ flinch back – as her triad starts.

"Fuck _all_ of this _shit_! Her name isn't 'Snowy', her name is Kieri Suizahn and she's an angel and _I'm going to kill her and_ _ **all of you!**_ "

Silence reigns for a second as her words set in, and she slaps both of her hands over her mouth with a horrified look on her face. The next sound is a small thud, and looking over at the girl shows that these cuffs – that I didn't see the first time around – fell to the ground.

"Smooth, Laz." I turn back to see her looking at me like she's seen a ghost – _don't I know the feeling_ – then the words register in her mind.

" _Jane..._ " If the warning tone doesn't cut it, the glare sure as hell does.

Too bad for her that I had twenty some-odd years to get used to it. Ha.

I look back over to the girl when she starts to mutter something incoherent, but something about the words – I assume they're words – feel... odd. It sounds _familiar_ , but no matter how hard I think – which isn't very much, hangover and all – nothing rings a bell. As she ends the string of words with more confidence, she clenches her fists and a light blue light surrounds her hands.

...I _really_ need that drink right about now.

"Talus, go for the three dipshits; I'll... _take care of_ the one in the hat." Lazuli's hands proceed to do that dark glowing-thing as she stalks in my direction.

"All _three_ of them; for me? Lazuli, you're too kind." Despite the wording, the threatening tone doesn't stay hidden one bit.

As soon as the two say their piece, the three next to me scatter; the big guy chasing after them indiscriminately. I could see the girl cast me worried looks, but then look back at the bull-giant when a swing slams into the ground next to her.

Looking forward again, I jump back a bit when Lazuli is right in front of me – thankfully, she got rid of whatever was surrounding her hands. Her arms are crossed and her gaze expressionless as she scans me.

Right then, a bit of nervousness seems to run through me, and I look off to the side for a second.

"T-this isn't how I thought we'd meet for real, huh Laz?" When _the_ _look_ doesn't let up, a nervous chuckle finds its way out of me.

Another moment of quiet – well as quiet as it can get with an assault going on a few feet away – before her arms uncross, taking a step forward-

-and _hugging me?_

"Didn't think this would happen either, Jane." Since she's taller than me, her head plants itself right on top of mine, and a faint mint smell mixed with someone who hasn't showered in a week wafts into my nose.

Far from pleasant, but it's _her_ , and she never does this unless something's not right. Listening to an 'eep!' from one of the three to the side probably constitutes most of the reason-

-wait, higher brain functions are returning and _what the actual fuck is happening is_ _ **happening**_ -

I resist most of the freak-out and let out a building pain-induced groan from a combination of _everything_ , and ow my _everything_. Lazuli pulls back, giving me a worried look.

"What's wrong." Her head tilts and everything, showing genuine concern in one of those rare moments.

That hardly help with the growing panic that starts to set in through the _everything_.

"'What's wrong?' I'll tell you _what's wrong_ ," I gesture over to the side where the big guy slammed his axe onto the ground, and the fucking ground goes and separates _before it_ showing ice. "You _pal_ over there is trying to commit manslaughter; one of them is a kid if the voice they spoke in says anything; you can make ice do _impossible shit_ , and to top it off I got a _fucking hangover_ with no idea why the flying-fucking Christ I'm in a knock-off Winter Wonderland!" I suck in a breath – that still tastes like apple and bile – and let it out.

"All in all, it's just _peachy_. How're you doing?" At the silence, I look back at her.

...And it looks like I broke her a bit, if the utterly confused and stunned look means anything-

"That's the most you've done that in one go." That sounded like a thought being said out loud, more than anything.

"What? The swearing, the shouting, or both?"

"Both."

"...I guess so."

An awkward silence seems to settle over us after that, one where I felt so _done._ One that was – thankfully – ended when an odd noise I haven't heard yet came from the chaos brewing next to us. Looking over at the battle, the giant – probably a demon, if going by the logic of whatever Lazuli told me she was is now true – has a few icicles stabbed into him, but doesn't look hampered in any way. The short one and the purple – probably a demon, the horns and tail are a dead giveaway – one look haggard by whatever the big guy is dishing out. And the girl...

Looking around, the girl is nowhere to be seen.

"Wasn't there a girl, or am I going crazy from everything going on?" I hear Lazuli let out a sound of confusion as she probably noticed the same thing.

Wherever the girl went, I can still vaguely hear her voice as the large demon looms over the two visible ones, catching them between a leftover wall of ice. He raises his axe in anticipation of killing them, and I start a bit in their direction – I'm not about to let someone _die_ , consequences be damned-

-A spray of water erupts from the ground – lake, we're on top of a frozen lake – hosing the demon in ice-cold water and forcing him to back off. Looking at the source of said spray, I squint my eyes when I see a shape as white as the snow around it, and my eyes widen when I see it move.

"...I'm done." My arms fling up in a 'what can I do' gesture, looking back at Lazuli to see her in a confused state.

In response, I give her a slap to the back of the head.

"Ow! What the fuck, Django?" She sends another withering glare at me, which I promptly ignore to give her a deadpan look.

"You are _not_ going to kill these people- I don't _care_ if they pushed you buttons, I do the same thing from time to time and I don't see you trying to kill _me_ ," I give her a _look_ of my own and she backs down. "Half of them – whatever the hell they are – sound like they're in their teens. They're _kids_ , Laz; they don't deserve this." She sputters for a second before speaking.

"That _girl_ you keep talking about is a _demon hunter_ , as in she hunts people like _me_." I narrow my eyes at that.

"Then what were the cuffs and collar for, huh? And she certainty wasn't in pristine condition when she was still in them."

Lazuli winced at that, and we both know that I got her on that. I saw the wrappings here and there, and if the faint bruising left around her face is anything like the ones Jackson used to give me back in high school is any indication...

A roar of pain comes from the commotion to my right, and turning to it shows the small one biting the hand of the demon, forcing him to drop an object that's wrapped up in a dark purple cloth. Judging form the handle sticking out of the confines of said cloth, it looks like a _sword_ , of all things. The purple demon ran up to the object and snatched it up, calling out to the short one – who was thrown from the demon's arm and is spitting and sputtering – and the suspiciously bunny-shaped figure slightly hidden in the snow.

"It's now or never, Lazuli. Something tells me that whatever is in that cloth is going to change whatever is happening over there."

Lazuli, when I glance back at her, looks _severely_ conflicted. Never in the twenty-odd years that I knew her did I see her discern situations; not saying that she _doesn't_ think – smart as a whip when it comes to our quips – but being impulsive is something she revels in too much. And yet here she is, looking like she has to pick between her infamous impulsiveness or listening to me and _think._

She surprised me by not responding and just charging forward, a determined look set on her face being the last hint of what she's going to do.

What I didn't count on was the absolute _clusterfuck_ that assaulted the situation.

First, when I looked at the situation that Lazuli was running directly into, the girl – now no longer a bunny – had grabbed onto the sword – that was oddly detailed – and was in the process of putting on an _identical sun pendant to mine_. And to make matters even more sideways, she goes and sprouts _wings_.

 _Then_ Lazuli goes and makes more of that dark energy in her hands and shoves them onto the ground, and a series of _huge_ ice shards start jutting from the ground, some of them impaling themselves into the larger demon. Said demon roars in pain, and looks back at Lazuli with a confused and betrayed look on his bull-esque visage.

The three that were being ailed by the – now impaled – demon copy my jaw drop; even _I_ didn't expect her to do _that_.

"L-Lazuli, what..." The hulking demon sounds so _betrayed_. Did Lazuli know him before-

 _Shink!_

Another shard of ice, this one coming from the winged girl, embeds itself into his other shoulder. There's blood running like a stream down the ice, painting the white snow crimson.

"AUGH!" He drops his axe, whatever strength in that arm sapped away from the second attack. His breathing started to become labored as panic starts to wash away the confusion.

Oh god they're actually trying to _kill_ him.

"Lazuli-"

" _TRAITOR!_ " The dying demon looks _livid_. His one eye – the other has an old cut over it – glosses over with rage – and an eerie glow? – and-

 _Crack!_

-he breaks off the ice pinning him in place, and heaves himself into the direction of Lazuli, completely ignoring the other three he was chasing. His size looks even _more_ imposing, and as he stumbles towards a shocked Lazuli – who is slinging more ice shards with little visual effect to his 'charge' – he raises his fists-

-and brings them down onto the ice in front of her, shattering the floor that both he and Lazuli were standing on. With a panicked shout Lazuli goes... into the _freezing water_ -

I moved for the first time since pushing Lazuli away from me, now trying to get her back.

There's thrashing in the pool, but it doesn't last long – both the large size of the other demon overwhelming Lazuli and the demon's wounds probably taking more effect – and they sink away form my sight. The last I see of her is an arm attempting to crush her hold on as they go under.

I have to get her out of there. I don't care if it's colder than death, I can't let her drown. I mean she fucking tried to _murder_ the guy to stop him, but-

A flash of cold blue, and my feet are suddenly glued into place, and it's a miracle I manage to stay upright. Looking down, there's _ice_ grown over my feet, and whipping my head up shows the winged girl with a light blue glow in one outstretched hand.

" _What are you doing_ , I have to help her!"

"I... I can't..." She looks scared about something, but she's stopping me from helping Lazuli-

"Let me go, damn it; she's going to _drown_ for god's sake!" She's still not moving, and the others aren't doing anything either.

Why aren't they _doing anything?!_ She just helped their asses and they do _nothing to help her?_

That pit in my gut, one I haven't felt in so long, starts weighing down again. But this one's different...

And it doesn't take me long to find out that I'm _angry_ , and it _**burns**_ -

-a sizzling noise reaches my ears, and my feet don't feel restricted anymore. Not taking any chances, I shirk off my coat as I run. Reaching the edge, I take in a deep breath and _dive_ -

Cold. There's no other way to describe it, the water.

I look down, away from the light filtering in from the hole and- there! I see a cloud of red billowing from the dark, red-tinged depths and I begin swimming. The crimson pooling into the water blocks anything inside it, but Lazuli has to be in there.

It's so cold, but that pit of _anger_ keeps burning and I keep swimming.

The closer I get, the easier I can make out what's inside of it, showing me Lazuli caught in the death grip of the larger demon and squirming – to no effect – to get out of it. I swim closer, her looking up and doing a double take when she sees me. She redoubles her efforts when she watches me try and pry the vice-like grasp open.

 _It's so, so cold._

With a strength I didn't know I had, combined with Lazuli's, we pry her out of it. Her taking my arm and, together, kick and claw our way out of the deep, crimson colored water.

 _So... helplessly cold._

That pit becomes icy, and my coordinated swimming becomes helpless flailing at the loss of feeling in my arms and the weakness from a hangover. Lazuli is practically dragging me through the liquid, as a dark ring lines my vision.

 _Darker... colder..._

The darkness at the corners of my sight steadily collapse, further and further. I stop moving to shift my head away from the approaching light to Laz. There's a cut on her face, slowly treading a cloud of scarlet as she pulls us upwards.

Here I am, the rescuer becoming the rescued, and I haven't even got a scratch on me. I really am out of my element, aren't I?

Her visible eye, full of that indignant determination that I'm so used to seeing, is so scared. Lazuli doesn't get genuinely scared; she's stupidly strong, and has the guts to act on it.

Then, light and cold air, but I can't breathe as the darkness gets me first.

* * *

 ** _A Panicked Filled Minute Later..._**

 _Slap slap slap._

Ow. My everything- just _ow_. My breathing, my arms, my legs, my _face_ -

 _ **Slap!**_

"Guh!" I gasp, my face stinging from the _prick who slapped me_ , and my eyes snap open-

Oh. It's just Lazuli.

...Probably shouldn't tell her I inadvertently called her a prick-

And now she's hugging me and _ow_ , everything still sore.

"-you're okay! Holy shit I though-"

Okay, she sounds worried, so that explains the hugging and hitting and _pain_ , but can't she be gentler; the hangover is making an ugly comeback and is revolting alongside my lungs to fight my arms and legs, right now-

"-but you're still okay, except the almost drowning part-"

Oh yeah, forgot about the drowning part. Honestly I just wish this would stop so I can _eat_ ; an apple that gets chucked back up doesn't spell a healthy diet. Dr. Reitter is going to grill my ass if he ever finds out-

"-SAY SOMETHING, DAMN IT!" _**SLAP!**_

"Ow, what the _fuck_ , Laz?!"

If her grouchy face has anything to say, it's 'not sorry'. Other than that-

…

"Laz?"

" _What?_ "

"We almost drowned."

" _Your dumb ass_ almost drowned-"

"And you just killed someone."

"-you dumb... wait, what does that-"

"Holy _shit_ I just helped in _killing someone_." My hands go to the side of my head in panic, and the slightly confused look on her face doesn't help any.

"What do you mean, you didn't do-"

"Hey dipshits."

I look to the oddly familiar voice, seeing the... short thing – _C'mon, Django; it's a woman, what would your mother do_ – with her arms crossed, a glare on her face. Now that I get the moment to look around, we're still on the frozen lake, the hole in the ice still shattered next to me and Lazuli. The other two are standing somewhere behind the... short person; the winged girl – now wingless – looks to be in a state of shock as she stares at us, and the purple demon... is staring at that rock he has, examining it.

...Okay, one of the weirdest things I've woken up to. But first-

"What are you, exactly?" The question seems to throw the short woman. "I'm having a hard time labeling you, let alone know what to call... whatever you are."

Silence, where everyone – even the purple guy – turn their gazes to me.

"...What?"

"...Are you an idiot?"

Wait, that sounds like a good question, the _fucking brat_ -

"She's a jakkai, Django; remember, I told you about them a few years ago?"

A _jakkai_? Now that I think about it... yeah, the short rat-looking people. Although whoever is in front of me isn't very... rat-like. Rodent, maybe, but no way-

Getting off track; stay on it, Django.

"You're terrible at describing things, Lazuli." I deadpan, only for her to return it.

"Says the one who asks retarded questions."

"Well ex-fucking-cuse me, but it's not my fault I suddenly showed up in the middle of butt-fuck _nowhere_ with a bunch of people who don't look human; except her-" I point at the flabbergasted bluenette- well, the one I don't know the name of. "-I have questions for _you_ later-" Back to the bluenette I know. "So _bite me_ , I'm feeling like I'm loosing it-"

"Are you two done?"

" _No._ " We both say to the jakkai, then turn back to ourselves.

"-I'm feeling like I'm loosing it, but now I've lost my _mind_. I think I'm actually going insane right now."

"Oh, so you lost a few more screws than you can handle; _tough shit_." She's growling now, and I can feel a scowl pulling at my face-

"Aren't you two friends?" A cheery voice, with a tinge of confusion, blurts out. Looking over, I see the demon holding the rock giving the picturesque look of honest curiosity. He almost looks like a confused puppy, complete with face structure and head tilt- minus the horns, of course.

I take a second to look at the situation and _breathe_. So, I don't know where I am. I could ask that later- I have more important things to deal with right now. Important item number one is the cold feeling running through me.

How I forgot being close to hypothermia in the middle of winter is beyond me; I blame Laz, of course. I shakily sit up, looking around me to try and find my discarded coat. Turning around, I see the khaki colored article a few feet away from me. Crawling over to it, I slip it over my shoulders and bask in the cold wind being buffeted.

I stand up – with only a couple of falls – and face the jakkai-

To see the girl pointing her sword at Lazuli, who looked like she was trying to go and help me up.

"Hey," All four of them turn their head to me – _creepy synchronization, okay_ – as I continue. "You don't need to point your glorified toothpick at her, she's a friend." All that got me was incredulous looks from the three strangers – who I _still_ don't know the names of.

Most importantly, the girl looks scared out of her mind to lower her sword. What did Lazuli do to scare the shit out of a _kid_?

...Well, she _is_ a demon, and she's a demon _hunter_... Why the hell is a kid made to fight demons – is she some kind of child soldier-

 _Focus._

"Okay, don't then," I mumble out, then face the jakkai again. "So, you wanted to ask something, or you just felt like calling us out?" The jakkai's face goes stern again, their arms still crossed.

"Yeah, first thing I wanna know is _who the hell are you_ ," She bites this out, reminding me of what Lazuli did a couple of minutes ago. Well, time for an introduction.

I put my hand out for a handshake. "Well, my name's Django, Django Cooper. I would say it nice to meet you, but.." I nod my head over to the girl who has my friend at sword-point. "...that." I slowly put me hand back down when I don't see her go for it. Understandable, I guess.

"Now," She looks back to the girl. "This one goes for you too, Ke... Kie... Ka-"

"Kieri." Said girl supplies.

"Yeah, that," She looks between the two of us.

Then suddenly shouts. " _What the hell_ _ **are**_ _you two?!_ One turns into a snow bunny and has angel wings, and the other has the same pendant to make said wings!"

I froze – and with how cold I am it was easy to do – and glacially turned my head to Kieri to take a closer look. I felt my world collapse at the aforementioned pendant; it looks like a cartoon sun, hanging from her neck.

I turn down to my own chest, seeing the sun – and that odd comfort – dangling innocently down. Grasping it and holding it up- _yeah_ ; they're identical. I let it fall from my grasp as the girl starts talking.

"W-Well," Her voice is timid, laced with an odd accent that I can't place. "I am an angel; the pendant is given to angels after they reach a certain part of their training..." At that, she looks over to me, scanning me. "Y-You... _do_ have the hair and ears like one."

It was at that moment that I felt a breeze brush through my damp hair, chilling my ears even further. Looking around for where my hat went, I spot it floating on the edge of the water. Walking over the small distance to it – being careful of the ice, don't feel like taking another swim anytime soon – and snatch it up, wringing out the water on it.

Well, so much for people not looking at them...

"I-"

"He's _not_ an angel," Lazuli speaks up, only for the angel to push the sword closer to her. " _Hey_ , watch it-"

"Lazuli," At her name, she looks at me, and I get to really see her emotions written on her face.

She's terrified, and if what I'm feeling right now is anything close to what she's feeling, she wants to deny it. Hell, _I_ want to deny it. How could I live my entire life getting shit on by most people then waltz over here and suddenly I'm a _holy being_?

I have to ask Kieri something; it'll be the make-or-break answer.

"How do you do it," I elaborate at the look I get from the vague question. "The wings, how do you not have them out?"

"I... I just feel for them; like I've always had them, and they appear. Why, do you not know how?"

That it? Just think you have wings and you get them? I think back to when Kieri first time she made them appear; spreading the span of them outwards, the bright white feathers shaking themselves in some breeze. I feel somewhere on my back, trying to imagine having wings, to take flight.

...Nothing- wait! The pendant is what gives it, so... I feel the comforting radiance it projects, and I focus on that, thinking of what she did when I first saw her unfurl them-

I feel something brush across my back as Lazuli gasps. I open my eyes to see a dawning horror on her face, while everyone else's is a mixture of awe and minor confusion – confusion coming from Kieri. Looking to my sides-

-white feathers, so clean and pure looking that it's reminiscent of fresh snow. I reach a hand out to touch it, and I damn near _flinch_ when I _feel_ my hand run across it's soft texture.

I flex it a bit, watching it as it spreads out, then folds on itself towards my back. It feels like it's always been there, as if I just discovered I had my left arm and just... knew how to move it. It's _surreal_.

Looking back at Lazuli with wide eyes, I see her mimic my expression.

"I swear I didn't know about this, Laz." I wait for a response, and it feels like forever before she finally says something.

"I... I believe you, Jane. I _believe you_."

No words before those ones gave me so much relief when uttered. Looking back at the others shows how completely confused they all are.

"What are you two talking about." The purple demon bluntly asks, looking between us.

I shoot a glance at Lazuli, seeing her doing the same thing. I give her a reassuring nod and look back.

"Do you want the short version or the long version?" When he just gave me a weird look, the jakkai speaks up.

"The short version; we need to get to Farun before nightfall." Ignoring the lack of knowing what 'Farun' is, I start.

"I was raised by humans who didn't know what I was ever since I was a infant. I thought I was a freaky looking human until about... a few moments ago."

Silence. Kieri finally dropped her sword at the amount of 'what' she's probably feeling, but Lazuli doesn't move at her freedom – _why is she looking at me like that?_ – and the others are utterly confounded at what I said.

Well, not the purple guy; he just looks confused at the whole situation. Guess I'm not the only lost one.

"The longer version doesn't get any better." I lamely state after nobody says anything for a bit. "So, you said something about going to a town; 'Farun'?" There, the jakkai finally talks.

" _We_ ," She gestures to the three – herself included – that first ran out of the forest when I first woke up. "Are going to Farun. _You_ are welcome to join, but _she_ ," She jabs a finger at Lazuli. "Isn't going to come."

"What?! You little _shit_ -"

"Hold on!" I cut off Lazuli, who looked like her already short fuse is being constantly set off and needs a break. "Why can't she come? If it's because she's a demon then you're being a bit hypocritical." I finish my argument looking at said counterargument; the purple demon-

Who is _really_ enamored by a rock he's holding, petting it like it's an animal of some sort.

Okay... he's not the brightest tool in the shed, my gut tells me.

The jakkai looks back at the purple demon – and facepalms when they see the rock petting – then look back at me with a sigh. "Okay, you have a point; but he's harmless, unlike your demon."

Looking back at Lazuli- yup, she's fuming at the jakkai. Knowing her, she probably thinks that the best thing to do in this situation is to start throwing fists – _again_ – and hope for the best. Or use that weird voodoo stuff she was doing. Or not follow them at all. Really, anything to just spite the jakkai in front of me is fair game for Lazuli-

Another gust comes through, and I'm reminded that I'm probably on a time limit before everything goes to shit for me. And to think that I spent the morning chucking up everything in my stomach...

Good times, really, compared to this.

"Lazuli's someone that I can trust my life with, and _I hope_ that she feels the same," I give her a joking side glance, and I can see some of the tension go away to keep that twitch on her face from becoming an impish smirk. "And I really don't want to just leave her behind after finding her and keeping her from dying. I mean," I gesture to the giant hole in the ice behind us. "Lazuli _did_ almost get herself killed to help you guys out; if anything, you do owe her _something_."

At that last part I slipped in, the jakkai begins to look like they're actually considering it, if only slightly. Glancing over at Lazuli shows me that she's still pissed, but at least she doesn't look like she's on the warpath – again – so that's a plus. Kieri looked scared before, but now she looks to acknowledge the fact that- yes, Lazuli did just help her and the others, and looking between both Lazuli and I, she looks more thoughtful than absolutely terrified; something much better than a scared girl, and the fact that _Lazuli might be part of the problem_ -

"He does have a point, Rhea," The purple demon suddenly speaks up, but before he can continue the jakkai whips back towards him.

"Shut it, Buwaro; I'm..." 'Rhea' shoots first me, then Lazuli a glare-glance before looking back at 'Buwaro'. "I'm _considering_ _it_."

At those words, the purple demon lets loose a cheer, turning to Kieri and gives her a huge hug- where the angel looks both surprised and flustered. "Yay, more friends!"

I... I don't know what to say about that. He looks like a puppy with how excited he looks- even his odd tail is wagging like one!

...Kinda reminds me of Lazuli, when we were kids. But back then, I ended up getting tackled right afterwards for calling her different variations of 'cute'.

It was worth it, of course.

Speaking of Lazuli, her nose crinkled when Buwaro mentioned having more friends. Something tells me that it's not a great idea to stay with these... _unique_ individuals, but it's better than having to drag ourselves around in the middle of this forest-

"Hold on," I look over to Lazuli, my brows furrowed. "Why are you in the middle of nowhere, anyways? Did you get lost or something?"

Lazuli snapped her gaze back up to me, that familiar indignant anger surfacing. " _No!_ I didn't 'get lost or something'," She folded her arms and looked off to the side.

…

Oh my god-

"You got lost, didn't you?" I couldn't help the grin that started to spread across my face. "Guess I was right; I should've been the one to-"

I couldn't get anything else out before a glint shined in her eye, and before I could do anything else a blue blur tackled me, knocking the wind out of me-

" _Gah!_ " A pain strikes my back, and I _swear_ I hear something crunch other than snow. " _...ow..._ " I breathe out from the weight on top of me, and said weight gasps.

"Oh _shit_ , are you alright Jane?" Lazuli leans off of me to get a better look of me, and she cringes slightly at a spot somewhere over my shoulder. When the stars finally decide to leave my sight I follow her gaze...

"Oh yeah, wings," Lazuli gets off of me and grabs my arm to lift me – surprisingly easily, too – as I get a better look at the new appendages.

The wing on my right is limp, and I can hardly feel anything besides a dull ache on my right shoulder blade, but the one on my left has been bent at an odd angle, and trying to move it _hurts_.

"Okay, yeah, I'm starting to loose any appeal these things had before," Now both shivering _and_ wincing in pain, I look back to the only other person with said feathery limbs. "You wouldn't know how to make them go away; I can go without having to deal with... _this_."

Buwaro looked to have started a mild argument with Rhea, leaving the poor girl with some breathing room. She looks over to us, then winces herself when she spots the problem. "Um, you can just let go of that feeling, and it should just go away..." She looks back to Lazuli, then seems to curl into herself. Looking over to Lazuli, she didn't seem to notice the look, but she is giving my wings – _never thought I'd think those words together and mean it_ – a worried look.

...I'm going to have a talk with her about this at some point, aren't I? If that's the case, I'm going to need a few drinks before going in.

Soon – read: not soon enough, really – I managed to get rid of the wings, and surprisingly enough the pain went away with the damn things. Despite how cool they are, there's no way they can actually be used to _fly_ ; now that'd be ridiculous. After giving my shoulders a few rolls and reveling in the freedom of pain-induced tackling via blue demoness, the jakkai and purple demon decided to stop their arguing; Buwaro looking satisfied with themselves and Rhea letting out a forlorn sigh.

"Despite how _stupid_ it is to let someone come along when not long ago _they were trying to kill us_ ," Rhea gives a certain demon behind them a _look_ , but said demon was too high on their supposed victory to be affected. "Blue can come along- _on one condition_ ," She reaches somewhere behind her and pull out-

-a shackle, with weird markings carved all over the outside of it. The very same that was on... Kieri...

"She wears _this_ , until we reach Farun; after that, I don't care whether she has them on or not," Rhea swings the shackle around a finger, a sharp grin pointed at Lazuli.

Going by the shocked looks of the two behind them, I guess they didn't know about it – _seriously, when did she pick it up?_ – and going by the furious look on Lazuli, she's not very excited about the proposition.

Guess I'm going to do damage control.

"Laz," I cut in, before she goes on a raging rant about how terrible the idea is. "I know the idea is probably the worst- _but_ ," I take a step forward and put a hand on her shoulder. "Face it; without them, we'll probably end up wandering around the woods for hours on end. And _something_ tells me that we don't have the time to faff around in a wint-a..." I stop for a second, then let loose a sneeze. " _A-choo!_ Yeah..."

Lazuli look like she's about to start arguing again, but her eyes start look down and take in my shivering form. She takes a second to just _look_ at me, think about something, then closes her eyes and taking in a breath.

"... _Fine_ ," She grinds out through gritted teeth, looking over to the still-grinning jakkai. "I'll do it. _But if this is just a sham to kill me_ ," Her glare is piercing, but it doesn't look to disturb Rhea at all.

"Alright; good of you to agree to the terms. Now, if you don't mind-" She starts to walk forward, opening up the shackle-

" _No,_ " Her glare sharpens, giving the metal loop a look, then glancing over to me. "Let Django put it on."

Rhea stops for a second, thinks for a second, then shrugs and tosses the shackle in my direction. "Alright, but if I don't see it working or on all the way..."

After fumbling with the thing when it got tossed in my direction, I took note of the warning and faced Lazuli, the metal binding in hand.

I give Lazuli a concerned look. "Are you sure about this?"

I know how much she hates not being able to do anything; if any of the times she got angry at someone doing something even mildly harmful to me has to do with anything...

She smirks at my concerned expression. "Yeah; it'll be alright. It's not like I'm being sent to my death, or anything. Now," She gestures to the ominous manacle. "When you put that on, you have to say a code to keep it locked."

Stunned, I looked down at the shackle. "Wait, this thing is voice-activated?" I look up to her with a brow raised. "And why did you lock Kieri up with her own name; that's just stupid." When she gives me another indignant look, I give her an easing gesture. "Okay, _okay_ , no calling your ideas stupid, _even if they are_..."

I lean away from the smack Lazuli hit me with, letting out a snort. Despite how tense the situation was, we can't seem to help ourselves it seems.

Deciding to take a note from her book, when I – reluctantly – snap the collar around her neck and find that- yes, it doesn't stay closed for some reason, I say aloud 'Lazuli'-

-Then the shackle lets out a glow, and a snapping sound is heard as, when I pull on it, it stays in place.

"So, what does it do?" I ask Lazuli, but the only response I get is her making a cutting motion with her hand across her neck. "That doesn't really help me here..."

"S-She won't me able to speak, or use magic..." Kieri pipes up, only to drift off at the end when everyone gives her their attention. Yeesh, the confidence on her is terrible, and I thought mine was a bit worse than normal back in the day-

Wait- she _can't speak?!_

...Actually, I really shouldn't be surprised at this point; I got _voiped_ by a ball of light into the middle of who-knows-where and met someone – that a small part of me thought was fake, but hoped it wasn't true – who turned out to be a bit of an ass around other people and _probably_ did some questionable things to a bunch of children before I showed up.

And honestly? I rather just roll with the punches; it's probably going to get worse before it gets better, and something tells me there isn't any freaky lights around that can send me back home. Although, if Lazuli was telling the truth all these years – _about her being a demon_ – and she's quite noticeably _not_ in Hell...

Well, I'll deal with it later; now, I have to deal with, you know, _not dying_ of _hyperventilation_. That's an easy – I hope – and straightforward goal to achieve, and the reward is 'not dying'. Hooray.

"Well," I go over to my discarded coat – _why didn't anyone put it on me; it's still mostly dry_ – and grab it off the layer of snow it lied on. "That has to be the craziest fifteen-ish minutes of my life, let's hope that it stays that way." I shake off some remnants of snow on the coat and slip it on, zipping it up and covering the pendant in the process. Looking up, I see Lazuli tugging at the shackle – _she probably thinks it's humiliating instead of how uncomfortable it might be_ – with an eye quirked at my words, the other demon and angel seemingly occupied with something that has the poor girl flustered beyond belief, and the jakkai with a remarkable impression of Lazuli's expression.

"So... what are we waiting for; I'd like to _not_ freeze to death, yeah?" My words seem to break whatever reverie Rhea was in, then she shouted to the – what I'm assuming is – the youngest of our motley, impromptu group to get moving. I let out a muffled snort from behind my hand because _wow_ \- for a... small individual, she sure can _yell_. Looking over to the demon I'm familiar with, I only catch the end of an eye roll; really should mention to her later how loud _she_ was back when we were kids- hell, how loud she is _now_ is definitely something.

As a quick sneeze rack my body – followed by some shivers – I follow after the entourage of the first three people I've seen since I showed up here, my – now mute – friend at my side as we follow from a distance.

…

I look over to Lazuli. "But seriously, _why_ did you have a 'super secret' pass code be the prisoner's _name_? Like, why can't it be a poem; something that someone _won't_ say in passing, eh Snowflake?"

I smirk at the frustrated glare and silent growl that's sent in my direction, and nearly split my face as I jump out of the way of a clawed hand swiping in my direction at the nickname. I burst out laughing at the comment of "Hey, that almost sounds like you, Snowy!" from an overly excited demon in front of us, Kieri becoming equally emotionally disturbed as the local ice queen.

* * *

 **A/N: Whew, that was quite the thing I typed out. Now, how long ago was the last chapter for this story-** _ **two and a half months?!**_

 **Okay, I got so absorbed into revamping one of my other stories that I** _ **kinda**_ **forgot to finish this chapter? I had this one almost done about a week after the last chapter finished, then I got rid of almost** _ **all of it**_ **– because it didn't sit right with me – then I almost finished half of it before rewriting** _ **that**_ **one, then left it for two months mostly finished.**

 **Which might explain the difference in writing from the beginning and middle from the end. Well.**

 **So, with my casual downplay of why I took so long to get this over with, well, over with, onto the review responses:**

 **backonninja:** **Well, good news is that Polarized is no longer on hold; just finished the fourth chapter of the 'Redux' version not too long ago. Also, there is no shame in touching this shiny... yet. No telling if I have the potential to screw this up or not, right now.**

 **Guest:** **Just a quick thing; if you have a profile on FFN, it would help if you use that** _ **or**_ **get one, just in case there's another review that says 'Guest', so I don't get mixed up with all these people with the same name –** _ **like going to school and finding out that in one of your classes there's, like, four Jake's**_ **– and so it seems a bit more personal; ya know, if you're into that kinda thing. Getting back on track; yes, I liked doing this chapter and going back over it- it gave me that feeling of something that's pleasing to the eyes, or something similar.**

 **And that's all for the review responses! It's weird getting these now; in the beginning of all of this writing, there was, like, no reviews for the first few chapters I've ever wrote on this site, and now on one of my stories I** _ **just**_ **broke a dozen (although that's the old Polarized, but I digress).**

 **Anyways, hope you enjoyed the first non-prologue chapter of Dream a Better Dream (DBD, if you're feeling up to doing acronyms), and have a good one!**

 **P.S.: I see some authors put quotes on the very start of some of their chapters. Is that an actual thing that people do to make their chapters feel more... I dunno, aesthetically appealing? Professional? Because they found a cool quote and want to show people?**

 **P.P.S.: Would you readers like if I followed the trend mentioned in the last postscript; putting quotes in the start of my chapters? Or would that be too weird?**


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